The conclusions of
the summit on Sunday were weak and mark another worrying setback in
Europe’s fight to tackle its refugee crisis. Rather than put in
place the concrete European response necessary to deal with the
challenges we face, EU countries had hoped that a new EU-Turkey
agreement could be used to help stem the flow of refugees and
economic migrants arriving in Greece.

The summit committed
the EU to an “initial” sum of €3 billion, to support Syrians
under temporary protection in Turkey. However, it is not clear what
support Turkey will provide to the refugees thanks to this money, or
whether it will finally open its job market and provide schools and
education to hundreds of thousands of Syrian children.

In return for our
money, Turkey has agreed, starting in June 2016, to take back those
migrants who are not in need of international protection, and who
came to the EU through Turkish territory. If the aim is to “stem
the flow,” this is a deeply flawed approach, as the number of
people streaming into the EU who are not in need of international
protection is extremely low.

The vast majority of
people arriving are Syrians who will not be taken back by Turkey. It
is thus highly unlikely that the numbers coming will be reduced.
Indeed, the prime minister of Turkey stated at the post-summit press
conference that he could not guarantee any reduction in the number of
refugees arriving in Greece. One might therefore question the
underlying logic behind the whole exercise.

* * *

It is, of course,
also true that illegal migrants can only be returned to Turkey if
they actually stay on Greek territory and don’t move onward. But
the reality of our nonexistent or dysfunctional entry “hotspots”
mean the vast majority of people who could be returned to Turkey —
based on the valid Greek-Turkish readmission agreement — move on
northward into other EU countries before any return can be
administratively arranged.

It is time Europe
takes its destiny into its own hands

Statistics from the
Greek police show that while Turkey agreed to take back more than
2,300 illegal migrants this year, only eight people were returned, as
the rest had left Greece. Once the illegal migrants cross the Western
Balkans, they cannot be returned to Turkey as the EU-Turkey
readmission agreement doesn’t apply there.

Our strategy to
outsource our refugee crisis to Turkey lies in tatters. One wonders
whether some of the money that will now be pledged to Turkey, in the
hope of stemming the tide of refugees, could instead have been
invested in the setting up of an EU border and coastguard force.

Any co-operation on
migration with Turkey can only work if there is an EU border
management system and a fully functioning EU migration policy,
including well-funded and functional hotspots to differentiate
refugees and economic migrants on the external EU border. Without
this, it’s unlikely that even Turkey will make a dent in the
numbers coming.

* * *

The summit also
failed to bring new hope to the flailing Turkish process of accession
to the EU. Its conclusions commit the EU to re-energizing the EU
accession process. One new negotiating chapter will be opened, with
the possibility of more next year, but there was no mention of
Turkish obligations under the rule of law and respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms, despite the despicable arrest of
leading Turkish journalists last week. The words of European Council
President Donald Tusk about human rights and the enlargement
principles uttered after the summit were just spin, intended to hide
this shameful failure.

It’s a troubling
time for Europe when the only thing we can agree on is that our
problems should be outsourced. Instead of outsourcing challenges, EU
leaders should agree to take a much-needed leap forward and provide a
genuine common European response.

Jean-Claude Juncker,
the president of the European Commission, has drafted a blueprint of
the measures necessary to deal with the refugee crisis. We have a
route out of the impasse, staring us in the face. It’s scandalous
that this agenda hasn’t been taken forward. We know what needs to
be done, but again EU leaders, held hostage by domestic nationalists,
have proven incapable of taking the tough decisions that are
necessary to deliver a European response.

It is time Europe
takes its destiny into its own hands, instead of trying to pay and
bribe others to provide solutions for us.

Guy Verhofstadt,
European parliamentary group leader for the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe (ALDE), was prime minister of Belgium from
1999-2008.